sam sweeney is following the story closely and joins us with the latest. sam? sam: not the way american airlines wanted to go to the holiday season, busiest time of the year. but now they say they are confident they will be able to take care of the problem. the largest airline in the world scrambling to find pilots the fly the planes in the busy holiday season. >> hard to remember a time recently this happened. >> a computer glitch allowed them to take time off. they demped the schedules between december 17 and december 31. >> it is good we know about this a few weeks before it starts rather than a couple of hours or days before. >> american froze the system but it's too late. they are offering pilots time and a half to get them in the cockpit. airline weekly editor with advice for passengers. >> you get a dreaded text or the e-mail from american that the flight is

them how flexible you are. if you don't mind using an alternative airport or flying to new york j.f.k. or newark rather than say laguardia. tell them that. they won't assume that. they will look for the next seat on the same route you are traveling. if you don't mind being flexible tell them. it might get you where you are going sooner. sam: american crew schedulers will have busy days and nights ahead but the airline says they are confident they will be able to get the problem fixed. reporting live at reagan national airport, i'm sam sweeney. jonathan: fingers crossed. thank you. abc7 will follow the developments in the story. you can download the news app to get the alerts sent to you at your phone as soon as they happen. michelle: now faking the grade. it's a major story. the abc7 on your side i-team broke two weeks ago. students skipping class with no consequences at ballou high school. some students were out of class

were in class. a whistle blower that gave you the documents said it's widespread and directed from the top. >> we are talking about 3,000 pages here. the "7 on your side" i-team got the complete records and grade reports for all of the high school students. they show students are graduating despite missing most of the school year and the reports are the focus of allegations of grade inflation. monica taught music at ballou high last year. she revealed to the "7 on your side" i-team that the administrators compelled her to give grades that the students did not earn. >> the recent school year of 2016-2017 there are students with absences that exceeded triple digits. >> they reported on the attendance problems at ballou two weeks ago and last night shared documents we obtained highlighted how many absentee students got diplomas last spring. today in a hastery

conference, d.c. public school chancellor wilson pledged action. >> it is important that grades indicate the students know the material around they are feeling any pressure otherwise. i want to know immediately. we will address it. >> but she brought allegations to the school administrators before and believes the look of accountability to be a district wide problem. >> i took my issues to city council. i went to testify. communication with the chancellor. >> d.c.'s chancellor says they stand by ballou high school principal and she remains on the job tonight. jonathan: we will follow it closely. thanks. the i-team has been on streets all day talking to students and parents about what we found. the emotion from both sides anger. but it wasn't always directed at the same people. >> itics me wonder what education will she -- it makes me wonder what education will she get? what will they do for her?

too. they know they have to come to school. >> this is dcps issue. jonathan: similar scandals in other parts of the country ended with criminal charges and massive shakeups of the entire school districts. we do not know yet whether this will rise to that level. we will follow it closely. the "7 on your side" i-team will continue to push for answers and work to find out how widespread the problem really is. you can help tipping us off to things that you are seeing or perhaps you know about. you can contact the i-team at tips@wjla.com. or give us a call. it's confidential. michelle: at this hour the u.n. security council holding an emergency meeting after the latest missile test from north korea. nikki haley told the powerful group the launch "brings us closer to a war that the u

the communist regime says the nukes have the potential to reach as far as new york city and d.c. president trump had a call with china's president about putting more pressure on the north. trump tweeting more major sanctions will be put on north korea. jonathan: shocking video. armed robber leaves a clerk pleading for his life. police say that was just the start of a terrifying spree. michelle: caught on video. appearances are deceiving. two old men that pulled off $100,000 heist. steve: temperatures are 20 degrees above average for this time of year. right now slipping to 59 degrees at reagan national airport. colder air tonight. tracking showers for tomorrow night. more on that in a few minutes.

announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 6:00". on your side. michelle: tonight a brizzing thief struck three times in two days. this happened friday. the clerk fearing for his life in the situation. it was the first of the three similar attacks caught on

video. an hour later he hit a different store. if you recognize the man or his hoodie and the ski mask call the police. a burglar caught on video. this is from november 18. you see the man grab the cash drawer before checking out the wine and the beer selection. he is on the loose. jonathan: video of a caper straight out of the movies. two crooks wearing costumes to look like they are old guys robbing an atlanta area jewelry store. the video is pretty clear. they swiped hundreds of thousands of high end watches. and then away they went. the thieves now have a $10,000ry ward out for the cap -- reward out

bizarre theft. that is a thief making out with a mounted zebra head and thousands of dollars of jewelry. they caught up with him but the zebra head is still missing. michelle: it turns to chaos in an instant when a man fights police and one pulls out of a stun gun and misses. >> get out of the car. >> let go. let go. let go. >> stop! jonathan: point blank range and hit his own partner.

what has veterinarians keeping a close eye on panda cub bei bei. we will tell you coming up. >> matt lauer has been terminatedded from nbc news. michelle: next, the growing response after the shocking firing announced on live

john mccain called it wone of the most pristine and beautiful parts of the world. now donald trump and republican leaders have a tax scheme

why? to pay for tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations. it's a bad deal. the top 1% get a tax cut. we pay the price. tell representative comstock, don't sell our wild lands to give billionaires a tax cut.

jonathan: back now as baltimore saying a final farewell to fallen detective sean suiter. the procession included more than a thousand fellow officers. the 43-year-old shot and killed with his own gun almost two weeks ago. suiter a d.c. native joined the army out of high school. he was an 18-year veteran of the baltimore police. his killer by the way is still on the loose tonight. michelle: right now in loudoun county, police investigating after the k.k.k. fliers were found on several driveways. found in a plastic bag with birdseed. they are similar to others found last month in leesburg. chaos at the university of connecticut. a political speech turned violent last night between students and a conservative commentator.

for right wing blog caught on camera grabbing a woman around her neck. this is after she appeared to grab his speech off the podium. as the protesters storm out. there were broken windows. police fired smoke canisters. and the man at the center of this was taken away in handcuffs. jonathan: this was a moment of shop that became the top trending story around the globe. the face of the nbc morning show "today" show terminated. >> matt lauer has been terminated from nbc news. >> moments ago, nbc news chairman sent the following note. dear colleagues on monday night we received a detailed complaint from a colleague about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace. i'm heartbroken for the brave colleague who told her story and any other woman who has her own story to tell. >> the misconduct began at the 2014 winter olympics and they began it was not an isolated

lauer is the latest of a string of celebrities brought down by sexual misconduct allegations. michelle: our amy aubert went to get reaction to the powerful movement some believe should have started years ago. >> for the moment all we can say is we are heartbroken. >> heartbroken after a bombshell accusation against "today" show host matt lauer. >> you turn around and there is somebody else. it's disappointing. >> matt lauer, are you? no. it can't be him. it's a person with the same spelling. >> it's like men in the powerful position is becoming more and more common. amy: more and more common the string of accusations now stretches across industries. >> matt lauer bothered me but charlie rose broke my heart. amy: it's sparking a conversation some call overdue. >> in one sense it is good that the dam broke and the me

>> i'm proud of those who came forward. >> we should have a workplace that is safe allowing people to do the work. >> some call the swift action on nbc's part a surprise. >> it seems like as soon as they say there is an allegation now there is really no waste of time. >> it's amazing with the politicians, you give them one, two, three chances and they deny. but with the celebrities, immediately they are fired. >> a conversation that some hope continues. >> more and more people continue to say things people will recognize this is improper behavior and something should be done. >> amy aubert, abc7 news. michelle: in other news bei bei is bouncing back to the normal self after the intestinal problems. the panda house even reopened this morning. bei bei got sick over the weekend. he didn't want to go outside and barely ate. the 2-year-old now on the mend as zookeepers continue to watch him closely. jonathan: the national aquarium in baltimore now is caring for

from cape cod. this is a record number of animals treated at the aquarium at one time. keeping with the tradition, they name turtles and picking breakfast names like waffles, bacon, benedict and flap jack. >> i thought they'd go for the ninja turtle names. live look at the yard at nationals park. this is awesome. it's part of the holiday light installation. it's cool. four huge globes that feature holiday vigils that light up. there is also an interactive feature. you can check this out now through january 1. the lights go out at 10:00. i ask if we could take it out. steve: you are seeing a small camera in this globe. you look into it. take your picture. project it to the globe. take your cell phone and waver it around. then it disappears. how neat is that? michelle: great for social media. >> i love it. cool stuff. josh was there earlier and he shows you the coo

it opens up tomorrow night. neat thing to look at. today, short sleeves. got the memo. you enjoyed the weather this morning. the temperatures today hit 70. yes. 70 degrees. well above average for this time of the year. normally we see lower 50's. the record long standing 73 in 1905. look at the temperatures now. now that the sun is down. 59 at reagan national. look at the drop at dulles. 49. chill in the air if you are out and about. let's talk about the wakeup temperatures. chilly start for thursday. halfway through

34 college park. middle 30's for marlboro. fairfax is at a wakeup of 35. tomorrow is a mix of sun and clouds. it will stay dry. temperatures though lot cooler. it will stay dry. national christmas tree lighting. i'm out there. it's a good time for everyone. if you plan to go, bundle up. the capitol hills in the lower 50's. it will get chilly. the feet and the hands are the first to get cold. warm pair of gloves. looking at the future cast. showers, clouds. northern and the western suburb. it will fizzle out. out of here by 6:00 or

a dry rush hour. but the cooler air will settle in and you feel it for the upcoming weekend. saturday, the toys for tots. i hope you join us at the national harbor. we will be collecting new unwrapped toys to donate to kids around the d.m.v. christmas morning. the temperatures saturday around 53 degrees. 55 on sunday. the average for this time of the year around 51. the ten-day stormwatch7 outlook. once we get through the weekend we have the mild temperatures monday, tuesday, wednesday. middle to the upper 50's. look at thursday, friday and saturday the following weekend. coldest air of the season on the way. long stretch of the days with the highs in the lower to the middle 40's. michelle: thank you. jonathan: yesterday we were all fired up about what is happening with the new york giants. i'm not sure why. but it doesn't seem right. erin: more players are coming out and they are outraged about the way the giants benched eli manning. how would kirk cousins like s

the answer is

erin: the wizards has been getting it done without john wall who will be out for two weeks as he heals from a knee injury. last night, the wizards bench

points. 16 by kelly oubre. otto porter who hadn't been getting shots late in games led the way with 22. including the game winner. tonight the wizards are in philly. the sixers star is a game time decision. the tip-off is at 7:00. now on the heels of the giants quarterback eli manning losing his job to geno smith many players, former players are speaking out. they think it's disrespectful. on monday before the eli manning news broke, redskins quarterback kirk cousins was asked how he like his career to end and this is the coincidence. this is what he had to say. >> my dream is to walk away from the game on my terms. rather to say my body couldn't do it anymore or the team cut me because i wasn't good enough. i'll do everything in any power in my off-season and the season and the lifestyle the way i operate to make sure i am out there to play for a long time. provide a good return on investment. >> a os

holidays. kirk cousins, wearinger and the other players will be wearing customized cleats you see here. this will happen tomorrow night when they face the cowboys. as the my cause, my cleats program. if you want to buy the favorite players cleats, go to redskins.com. the proceeds benefit the charity feature on the players' cleats. nice effort. this is league wide. jonathan: great looking cleats, too. they used to wear ones that didn't conform and they were fined and now making it positive. steve: we hit 70 degrees today. that will make tomorrow feel colder even though it's still above average. the christmas tree light tomorrow. around 53 degrees. looking good. a bigger cooldown for the end of next week. the highs in the 40's. >> not

david muir up next.

tonight, as we come on the air, the stunning allegations growing. matt lauer, fired from nbc. accused of inappropriate sexual behavior. late today, multiple women with new allegations. and lauer's emotional cohost left to deliver the news after learning just before going on the air this morning. tonight, the new arrest. the suspected serial killer, a basketball player who graduated from st. john's. president trump igniting a firestorm, tweeting out extremist videos, one proven false. tonight, the white house saying whether the video is real or not, it doesn't matter. your money, your taxes tonight. president trump's new tax plan. who wins, who loses? and does he have the votes? the stunning